Role Reversal
by amatasora
Summary: Kuzuryuu throws a tantrum which results in he and his bodyguard/close friend, Peko, being separated from each other. She tries to stay near him for surveillance, but her efforts end up getting her into a rough situation. Kuzuryuu stumbles upon this and takes on the role of bodyguard himself.


"Come on, Peko, I'm thirsty, let's get a milkshake," the boy suggested already breaking off from the path they were on, half expecting what happened next.. "You only just stopped for one an hour ago," she responded, her long graceful legs coming to a halt together as she grabbed a handful of the boy's collar before he got out of reach. Her taller stature was certainly useful in keeping the young master in check this way. With a defiant sigh, Kuzuryuu spoke without turning. "And I have the means and the desire to get another, so what is stopping me?" He took a step forward only to have his collar tighten against his throat as Peko's grip tightened and pulled. "_I'm_ stopping you because we were given a budget for today, and we are not childishly wasting it away on treats," her tone was very authoritarian but the young Yakuza boy never was one to listen to authority. Nor was he keen on the use of the term "childish". He often tolerated a lot, he had a rather thick hide after growing up a rather confrontational child and being on the receiving end of his classmates' malicious thoughts, but calling him childish was his snapping point. Anticipating his attempt to lash out, Peko's hand returned to her side with ample time to spare and Kuzuryuu's arm swung wildly through thin air, albeit with more freedom now he was out of her grasp. "I am _not_ a child, I am a man! And a man is free to do whatever he wishes with his mo-"  
"A _man_ would make the mature decision to make sure he had first bought the items he was looking for, before squandering away parts of his budget," she interrupted, staying calm in the face of his outburst. He stared up at her indignantly, knowing she was looking out for him so that he would not be reprimanded later on by his father. She always had done, and she would most likely continue to do so even if it wasn't her job. He didn't need her to though. He was old enough and smart enough to look after himself. He didn't need to be babied by everyone. His fists were clenched, his stance very aggressive as he thought on how to proceed. After a few seconds of thought and silence, he decided he would end the matter there and then. "My wallet," he ordered, his voice calmer than before and his hand outstretched. He straightened out himself out, and stood as tall as he could. "You are dismissed, Peko." Before she retorted, he edged his arm out further. "My _wallet. _Go home."

It was not unlike him to pull something like this. His cold dismissal stung no less each time, having been not only his guard but his only friend from a young age. She breathed out slowly, retrieving his wallet from her bag and giving it to him. With a look of disappointment, she turned from him and quickly faded into the crowd of the street. He stood in place for a moment before pocketing the wallet and moving on. He appreciated all the girl did for him but if he did nothing himself, he would never stop being dependent on her. Then again, he still wasn't alone. He could always feel her watching over him from a distance. He'd never let her know he was aware of how she tailed him whenever this happened. It wasn't his wish to be left in complete solitude, just to have some temporary freedom, and as tough as he acted, her presence comforted him in all situations. Despite the original intentions he held that led to Peko's departure, he decided to heed her advice in the hope it put a smile on her face. He headed towards the store first ahead of getting a drink, keeping note of where his companion was as he turned corners and crossed streets. As he finally entered the double doors of the building, he spied her crouching in an alley across from the store.

Her master was tricky to deal with at the best of times, but once the topic of childishness had arisen, he was near impossible to control. She should've chosen her words better but her mindset had laxed, having been quite enjoying their afternoon shopping trip. She wouldn't even have minded the second milkshake break but orders were orders, and he was supposed to be buying himself a new suit. The pleasure she would get out of the detour would not compare to the scolding she would receive if he didn't have enough money left to cover his costs. So it had come to this. She had been sent away but was keeping a safe distance from him so as to observe but not intervene and aggravate him further. When he passed the entrance to his favorite cafe, the corners of the girls' lips curled upwards uncontrollably. She still had her influence on him as independent as he wanted to be. When he finally entered the store, she relaxed and stood up, continuing further down the alley she was occupying. She just had to keep an eye on the entrance until he left, and if she remained near the front, he would quite easily spot her upon his exit. She took a short walk to a step where she could sit and maintain her line of sight to the front doors of the store, taking a seat and withdrawing her phone from her bag to inform his father of their progress.

After 20 minutes, Peko gaze hadn't faltered for more than a few seconds at a time, but now her concentration couldn't help but be broken. She had to be safe herself in order to protect her charge after all, and the men entering the alley had a suspicious air about them. At first, she didn't remove her eyes from the entrance but when the man purposely entered her line of view, she could tell there would be an unavoidable confrontation. She turned her head from the group and stood up from her seat, her fingers limber and ready to wrap around the hilt of the wooden training sword across her back if necessary. "Hey, darlin'," the man started in a low, rough sounding voice. "You waitin' for someone, huh?" His eyebrows raised as he asked the question, his hand now planted on the wall beside her. "Maybe, you're waitin' for your Mr Right to come off that street and down this alley. Well, we…" a sleazy grin filled his features as he looked around to the group of men alongside him. "We wouldn't mind auditioning for the part, opposite such a lovely, beautifu-" His spare hand reached out and tried to stroke across her cheek but it was slapped away before it even got close. "Now, now, I was paying you a compliment. Didn't you ever learn any manners, girl?" The anger and rejection in his voice were evident and Peko was well aware his intentions were not pleasant. "The films like to make it seem like us guys prefer the feisty ones, but really, we just want a little obedient girl, in all honesty," he continued but not for much longer, as her hand flew up over her shoulder to grab the hilt. To her surprise, more men had surrounded her from the back, one of which had grabbed her wrist midway, another ripping the strap that held the sword on her back, discarding the weapon behind them.

Her arm struggled under the restraint of this man, and another had gotten hold of her other arm before long, bringing her away from the wall and into the center of the alley. The leader who had approached her let out a hearty laugh at her predicament, stepping closer. "Now, we gonna get along alright, darlin'?" he leered at her, looking her up and down before leaning closer to her with a disgusting smirk on his face. Still defiant, Peko's leg flew upwards in a flash, her foot swiftly connecting with his jaw and knocking him back onto his ass. A few of the guys laughed at his expense but the two restraining her tightened their grips to a painful degree, causing her a lot of discomfort which she hid behind her furious expression. As long as these two were holding her, she couldn't break free from the enclosure created by the men. If she got out of their hands, 2 others would simply take their place. It seemed a hopeless endeavour. Her escapist mindset subsided and finally she realised the horrifying nature of the situation at hand. Her facade broke for a second as a quiet yelp escaped her lips. She was just about to begin screaming for attention, they weren't that far off from the street. She couldn't be seen behind their hulking figures but she could most definitely be heard if she tried. Unfortunately, the leader had come to his senses after the surprise attack and he was not happy. "I thought I told you to be a good girl!" his voice was raised and ferocious as his arm rose behind his head and swung back round, his heavy palm impacting the side of her skull quite powerfully. She was trained in fighting, but not in withstanding pain. Her initial feeling was one of shock, unused to being struck, even in her job as Kuzuryuu's guard, and the agonising pain of the hit followed soon after.

His first action upon exiting the store was checking the alley across the street. Interestingly, she was not in her previous position. He'd never known her to drop a tail on him, in all his life. Partly motivated by curiosity, partly by worry, he sprinted across the street at the first opportunity. His first few steps into the alley were full of his usual self-confidence but the sight further down the alley drained that all away. His fingers let the bag in his hand slip to the floor and his mouth fell open. This couldn't be happening. Not to Peko. Not to her. His family dealt with enough scum in their business for him to have an adequate knowledge of the types of criminals lurking around here, but he never figured he'd encounter them out in the street. He was in another world to all of that, safe because he had his guard with him at all times. Except she had no guard. She had no guard and he'd sent her off on her own, as tough as she was, he had sent her away and into the devil's lair. If he had gone with her into the shop originally, she wouldn't be here. She wouldn't be surrounded by lowlifes. He could only hope nothing had happened and began to carefully step forward, staying silent as he did. In answer to his hopes, a set of thuds resounded through the alley as one man flew back, opening up the group and letting Kuzuryuu see Peko at last, seemingly unharmed if not very distressed. He had to do something, but what? He was a runt. A pipsqueak. A midget. He couldn't strike fear into a group of grown men. But he was something else too… Something far more fearsome. He was the son of a Yakuza boss. One with a particularly nasty reputation, recognised all over town. He could use this to his advantage, manipulate them using tha- SMACK.

The sound filled the alley. Kuzuryuu's expression was one of horror as he saw Peko's head lull off to the side, recoiling from the hit. Inaudible protests came from him until the rage that so often exuded from this boy erupted in a furious fashion. Grabbing the lid off of a trash can and taking his phone in his other hand, he broke into a sprint. He turned on the camera application of his phone before gripping both hands around the handle of the trash can lid and pushing himself as high off the ground as he could when he was close enough. The surprise of his attack, not only due to its suddenness, but the small scale of the attacker, worked in his favor, catching his target off guard. The man who had struck Peko felt the cold metal impact with the back of his skull, collapsing forward onto his hands and knees. Jumping back from the group, Kuzuryuu then hurled the lid with all his might into one of the surrounding goons' face, sending blood spraying from his nose. He backed up a couple steps before bringing his phone up and checking he could make out each of the faces on his camera screen. "Cheese," he muttered under his breath before the flash went off and he pocketed the phone. "Now I know all of your faces," his voice quieter than usual, but it held a much more menacing tone than usual, every word that came out of his lips dripping with malice.

"What do you think you're doing, kid? You think you can just go around hitting people in the street with no consequences?" one of the goons shouted at him whilst tending to the gash in the back of his leader's head, baffled by the actions of the boy. "You made a big mistake, bo-"  
"No. You're the one who made a mistake the second you laid your filthy eyes on someone dear to me," Kuzuryuu's hand delved into his jacket pocket, drawing out his wallet and holding it up towards the group of men, crest-side up. "I'm sure you're not completely devoid of brains, and that you know who holds the power around these parts, am I correct?" The condescending tone he'd picked up didn't sit well with the men who responded aggressively. "Watch who you're talking to, you little prick, the girl's still in our possession if you'd forgotten. Of course we know, it's the Fuyuhi-" The spokesperson of the group went silent as his eyes locked onto the crest of the wallet. One by one, the others realised the same thing that he had. "That's right. The Fuyuhikos. My name is _Kuzuryuu_ Fuyuhiko and I'm sure you're now aware what that means for you." The two men who had been holding Peko in place by her wrists began to loosen their grip, though being careful to catch her and lay her down on the ground before she fell, lest they incur the wrath of the 'Dragon Head of the Yakuza'. "I'd suggest you leave town as soon as you leave here if you value your lives. Don't bother collecting your things, I won't be giving you any more of a head start than leaving this alley. You've harmed one of the few people I care for, and you are sorely mistaken if you believe you will pay in anything less than the blood running through your veins." His hand replaced the wallet in his jacket pocket and he started taking large strides towards Peko, lying still slightly dazed in the center of the alley. Most of the men had begun making their escape down the opposite end of the alley but the leader from the start remained, still recovering from the blow he suffered to the back of his skull. Kuzuryuu was standing over him now, his hands trembling with rage still as his merciless eyes stared down at him. Without even thinking, he lined his foot up with the jaw of the man on all fours before drawing it back behind him. He was just about to follow through with the gruesome punt he had in mind for the man, but fingers gripping the fabric of his trousers stopped him. In an instant, he came to his senses, looking down at Peko who was pushing herself up to a sitting position with her other hand. With one last look back at the man, he almost roared the word "Run.", grabbing him by the scruff of his neck and hauling him to his feet as best he could, before pushing him away.

As soon as he'd let go of the man, he span around and dropped to his knees in front of Peko. His hands instantly grabbed a hold of her shoulders and helped her sit up straight. "You're okay, aren't you? You're not severely hurt? I'm sorry that I dismissed you. It was stupid, it was reckless, it was ch…" His voice became almost silent and his head dropped, his arms falling from Peko's shoulders into his lap. In trying to refute her claim of his childishness, he'd done something that only emphasised it, and she'd paid the price for his actions. "It was so childi-" This time, his voice hushed not out of crippling realisation and regret., but from embarrassment as his cheeks glowed bright red against the lips suddenly brushing against them. Peko had leaned over, placed her hands on his shoulders and planted a soft peck on his cheek in gratitude before wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning her head on his shoulder lightly. "Thank you, Kuzuryuu. I was terrified and you came to my rescue, without a second's hesitation. Yes, rather stupid… But then again, that's one of the prerequisites for being a man, is it not?" She smiled softly, readjusting herself against his shoulder. "Try not to risk your life so carelessly in the future though. I can't imagine you not being around, let alone the scolding I'd get if something happened to you." A quiet chuckle came from the young Yakuza who finally returned the gesture and wrapped his arms around her, giving her a gentle squeeze before leaning back slightly . "Quiet, you. Let's get you to your feet, and get your head looked at. Least a man can do." With those words, he hoisted her up with him as he stood up, letting her use him as a support and keeping one arm around her all the while. She smiled at his last comment, shaking her head and beginning to walk alongside him and out of the alley.


End file.
